Insurance equivalent courtesy car

[Gas1883]

We went in today to check the courtesy car is booked for next Friday , lad said a car is booked , I asked if the had any idea what make / model it was , he said there arguing with the insurance company over this , insurance are saying Vauxhall corsa , the rental company are saying as the car going in for repair is a fiesta st it should be a a- class ( I’m assuming Mercedes? ) .
I’ve no experience of courtesy cars other than normally getting what they have , my focus recently went in & I got a polo , is there a rule to how this equivalence works , I can’t see how a fiesta st could be the equivalent of a Mercedes , though no experience of Mercedes models , corsa would do for a couple of weeks to be honest , though if it is a Mercedes I’m sure the wife won’t say no .

[fatjon]

The car should be a similar class.That does not just mean a similar size. Within reason you should be put where you would have been had the incident not occurred. That does not mean out of a Fiesta ST and into a poverty spec 3 pot Corsa.

[SO27]

Depends on your policy. Many just have a basic courtesy car as standard and you have to pay extra to get an equivalent.

[Davie]

Usually similar class or one below. As in size, not as in will Jilly and Rupert at the polo club be impressed or not.

[Chucklehead]

As it's an ST, they (whoever they are) are trying to get you into a higher class of car because they earn more money in providing it.

The ST falls into a sports category "SP2", the same as these:
Renault Clio RS182 (2.0) / MINI Cooper S (1.6). / MINI Cooper Cabriolet (1.6), Ford Focus ST 2521cc, Mazda MX5 1.8/2.0, Hyundai 1.6 Coupe, Ford Focus ST 2.0, Ford Fiesta ST 2.0ltr. Vauxhall Corsa.VXR 1.6 Turbo. Honda Civic S.
1.8 I-VTEC. Audi A3. S.Line TDI. 1.6Ltr. Convertible. Alfa Romeo. Giuletta Veloce, Renault Clio
Sport Cup 1998cc.

They can claim a max of £88/day for that, so they'll just be trying to get you into something roughly equivalent in price/size without taking the piss.

[SmithCorona]

Chucklehead said:

As it's an ST, they (whoever they are) are trying to get you into a higher class of car because they earn more money in providing it.

The ST falls into a sports category "SP2"

Interesting. Any ideas what an MB02 class is?

[Alex_225]

Probably depends who's paying. When my other half's 10 year old ML was written off, we had two weeks with an almost new Merc GLC300. But of course they were billing the third party and by my understanding it was damned expensive.

I'm guessing if it's your own insurance they may be a bit more frugal. That said, I'd have expected a comparably sized car. Performance I'd have thought wasn't so relevant but being able to do what you usually would (kids, dogs etc.) I'd expect to be considered.

[JohnnyUK]

SO27 said:

Depends on your policy. Many just have a basic courtesy car as standard and you have to pay extra to get an equivalent.

This.

[Pishtonhead]

My neighbour is in a GLC coupe AMG 43 after his New RR sport was bumped into a couple of weeks ago. Now that will be pricey.

[Chucklehead]

SmithCorona said:

Chucklehead said:

As it's an ST, they (whoever they are) are trying to get you into a higher class of car because they earn more money in providing it.

The ST falls into a sports category "SP2"

Interesting. Any ideas what an MB02 class is?

Not one I'm familiar with, sorry

[LooneyTunes]

Gas1883 said:

though if it is a Mercedes I’m sure the wife won’t say no .

That has the potential to get expensive if she likes it?
[/footnote]

Edited by LooneyTunes on Wednesday 20th March 07:55

[alangla]

fatjon said:

The car should be a similar class.That does not just mean a similar size. Within reason you should be put where you would have been had the incident not occurred. That does not mean out of a Fiesta ST and into a poverty spec 3 pot Corsa.

Good luck. When my Fiesta ST was in for repair I got a diesel Astra. Main criteria appeared to be engine size and this car was indeed a 1.6 Turbo. Not quite what I had in mind though. It did the job for a few days.

[BertBert]

The key is who is paying which is largely determined by who is at fault. First or third party?

[LooneyTunes]

Alex_225 said:

Probably depends who's paying.

We all are, though higher premiums, if people wangle more expensive vehicles than they actually need.

ETA: hats off to the OP for questioning the hire company’s desire to provide something more expensive.

Edited by LooneyTunes on Wednesday 20th March 07:55

[WonkeyDonkey]

Is there really that much difference between a Corsa and an A class? They're both dreary hatch backs although I guess an A Class has more kerb appeal to some.

[Cledus Snow]

Regarding the question of ‘Who’s paying’. We all are, The insurance co. will be getting the money back in premiums.

[Roger Irrelevant]

Gas1883 said:

corsa would do for a couple of weeks to be honest

Woah woah woah...this is all a bit grown-up and reasonable. What you're meant to do on a courtesy car thread is complain that you haven't been given a car nigh-on identical or obviously better than the one you pranged (completely ignoring how impractical and expensive that would be to achieve), blow up razor-thin differentiations between marques into a massive deal, and generally make it clear that you're a big noise that won't stand for being fobbed off with a car of perceived lesser status and are thinking of getting lawyers involved. You're being far too sensible.

[vikingaero]

SO27 said:

Depends on your policy. Many just have a basic courtesy car as standard and you have to pay extra to get an equivalent.

This. On some of our car insurance policies, the default is a "standard courtesy car" and there was the option to pay for an "upgraded courtesy car".